Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life
Yüklə 1,07 Mb. Pdf görüntüsü
|
|
e ffort
to fuse positive emotions into the task ahead of her. By describing her product to various individuals before her presen- tation, she could tap into this reservoir of enthusiasm. This effort brought her left frontal lobe into a greater role. I asked Jane to explain the project to me. As she did, her face lit up and her voice became more animated. I pointed this out to her. At fi rst she was surprised. Then she said, “ Well, you ’ re just one person, not a crowd of strangers! ” “ True, ” I replied, “ but you sure got me interested, not just by the details of the project but by how you described it. The people you ’ ll be talking to already have an interest in the subject. ” c02.indd 26 c02.indd 26 1/29/10 10:09:51 AM 1/29/10 10:09:51 AM Ta m i n g Yo u r A myg d a l a 27 I asked her to make a strong effort to practice with her family and her friends at least fi ve times before she returned for another appointment. When she returned, she told me that each practice presentation had been more useful. I reminded Jane that those people weren ’ t computer engineers like her upcoming audience. She apparently managed to generate interest in people who might not be interested in the subject matter at all. She also became more at ease with the experience of talking about the subject each time she spoke to a new person or a small group of people. On the day before her presentation, Jane experienced a surge of anticipatory anxiety as she imagined herself in front of all those strangers. She shifted her focus back to the subject matter of her talk and managed to kindle neuronal networks that represented excite- ment in telling others about it. By combining her positive feelings about the project with the practice of presenting the information to friends and family, she linked up the neurons that were associated with talking about the project. Jane managed to get through the fi rst part of her talk by again making a concerted effort to stay focused on her enthusiasm for the project; she also confronted her anxiety instead of running from it. I had taught her that this effort was critical because exposure to the anxiety - provoking experience while staying focused on the subject matter allowed her to break through a barrier. She, like many people, had simply avoided public speaking. Consequently, the barrier had become bigger for her. Now she was able to get through the barrier. During the last part of her presentation, she was on a roll. It wasn ’ t that speaking in front of large groups was becoming effortless — that came later. However, she had a taste of how much easier public speaking was than she had thought it would be. Her left frontal lobe was taming her amygdala. After the presentation, Jane congratulated herself for having chal- lenged her old fears. She was amazed that she had gotten through the experience with a boost in confi dence instead of what she feared: humiliation. She even had the further reward of receiving c02.indd 27 c02.indd 27 1/29/10 10:09:52 AM 1/29/10 10:09:52 AM 28 Rew i r e Yo u r B r a i n compliments from some of the audience about her command of the subject matter. When we discussed her success, I suggested to her that she con- tinue to practice speaking. Her initial response was that she had “ gotten through it, so why would I want to risk all that I gained by putting myself out there again? ” I told her that in order to rewire her brain so that public speaking would no longer incite fear and would remain Yüklə 1,07 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|